


Full Motivation

by blowinduck



Series: Rush minific Series [11]
Category: Formula 1 RPF, Rush (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Coffe shop/Uni Au, F/M, First Meetings, M/M, sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-04-07 01:25:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4244256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blowinduck/pseuds/blowinduck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James is the barista of a little café who, in a slow Wednesday, decides to relieve his boredom with a client who stares too much in his direction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

James moves his gaze throughout the little café.

Wednesdays were generally lazy days, more so during the afternoon with the movement of costumers at its minimum by the joint cause of the hour plus the day of the week.

James always cursed his luck for having this day assigned in his working schedule. He hates the unnerving stillness that overtakes the café, leaving him with nothing to do which is never a good thing. Usually he reaches the point where he gets so desperately bored that he could do  _anything_ to entertain himself and any distraction, in whichever form it could present itself, would always be blessedly welcomed.

His roaming eyes stop when they meet a pair of very blue eyes staring at him intently across the café. The sharp gaze doesn’t falter as any would have when being caught staring; when it does change targets, it’s to direct its focus to a paper sheet on the table.

James had seen the guy with the incredible blue eyes a bunch of times before. He was obviously studying at the Uni around the corner, always ordering a soy latte and retreating to the same table on the far corner of the little café, busying himself easily with whatever it was that he did on a worn sketchpad.

It had been the Wednesday before last when he had found himself the object of that steady gaze and unabashed scrutiny for the first time, but then he had thought nothing of it, it was a free country after all. Now, as that gaze finds his again, he decides he might as well take what little distraction he can get, makes another latte, and walks towards the curly haired bloke currently hunched over his work.

Work he could just get a tiny glimpse of because said bloke closes his sketchpad quickly enough to hide its contents from view, turning an icy gaze at James as he approaches the table.

“Hi–“

“I don’t need more coffee; my mug is full enough as it is, thank you.” The seated guy cuts in, a bit of bore dripping through his heavily accented voice.

“I – never said it was for you,” James replies, earning himself another glare from the blue eyed jerk.

“Then, what do you want?” The bloke asks, quite bluntly to James’ opinion, “I’m rather busy.”

James snorts at that. “Yeah, I noticed.” He sits down, smiling at the outraged look he receives, “You are not from here,” he says, not quite a question. “German?”

“Austrian,” The other guy corrects him, his tone leading James to the conclusion that ‘irritated’ is his default state of being. “Don’t you have costumers to attend or something else to do?”

“Not really,” He admits, taking a sip of the cooling coffee. “Wednesdays are kinda slow and right now it’s just you and me, I’m afraid.”  The peace-making smile he offers only gets him a heavy sigh in return. “So, what’s your name?” He asks, determined to keep up the small chat.

The Austrian fixes James with a half-closed stare.

“You are not going to leave me alone, are you?”

“Nope,”

The guy heaves a long-suffering sigh. “’I’m Niki,”

“James,” he replies. The other guy, Niki, just nods stiffly in reply, lifting his mug to his lips and revealing the mysterious sketchpad on his left side.

“So, what is it you were doing that keeps you so busy?”

The mug hesitates a bit on its way back to the table. “I was practising,” Niki replies, a hand going instinctively to the sketchpad.

“What?” James presses carefully.

“I – drawing,”

“ _You_ draw?” James asks, surprise showing in his face. In the mere five minutes or so he had been talking to the grumpy Austrian, he had thought that he was sketching his plans to obtain world domination or something along those lines.

“Yes,” Niki replies, his face showing James that his surprise hadn’t go unnoticed. “I'm enrolled in an Art course at the University.”

“Sounds great,” James says, a bit lamely. “What were you drawing just now, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Nothing specific,” Niki replies quickly, the hand over the sketchpad twitching a bit. “Just a quick sketch, nothing of consequence worth showing.”

“Let me look at it,” James says, amused at the way Niki’s words tumbled out of his mouth.

Blue eyes meet his and, after a moment, Niki sighs, defeated and takes out a single sheet from the sketchpad, handing it to James.

Silence settles between them and the teasing smile on James’ face falters upon seeing a quite good pencil drawing of him: he has elbows up on the café bar, a dreamy gaze on his very carefully detailed face, staring beyond the confines of the white sheet. The careful detail dedicated to his features is lost on the background, it consisting of single pencil strokes that map the place around him.

“It’s…quite good,” James manages to say after a while, his eyesstill glued to the drawing.

“It’s not finished yet,” Niki scoffs. “I was working on it when you came to interrupt me.”

The reply makes James lifts his gaze; he finds a smirk both teasing and mildly annoyed on Niki’s lips.

“This one’s from today?” He asks after a bit.

“Yes,”

“So you’ve drawn me more times before,” James lets out, not quite a question.

Niki blinks at that, his mug just inches apart from his lips.

“Aha!" He shouts, triumphant. "So that's why you’ve been staring at me like a pervert those times before!”

Niki splutters coffee back inside the mug. “What?!”

“Don’t you dare deny it” James says loudly, a smile pulling at the corners of his eyes.

A faint blush colours Niki’s pale cheeks. “I – well, you have a good bone structure.” He mumbles behind his mug, not quite meeting James’ eyes.

“So, in other words, you’re saying I’m handsome, thank you.” Niki gaps at him and James barks out a laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m used to being called handsome; I really don’t mind much being the object of your inspiration.” He teases.

Niki, in front of him, snorts derisively, although the faint blush on his cheeks deepens a bit. “Don’t flatter yourself too much, asshole,” He says, snatching the sheet away from James’ hands. “as you pointed out, wednesdays are slow; I only drew you for lack of a better thing since you always stand there, doing nothing but breathe oxygen.”

“Oi, that’s not entirely true!” James replies but Niki just stares at him, unimpressed, a light eyebrow raised. “Most of the times,” he amends.

Niki huffs a laugh and James wishes privately he could draw too so he could paint those clever and impossibly blue eyes which are staring amusedly back at him.

That is new.

After a couple of shared minutes, Niki blinks, clearing his throat. “I have to go,”

“Why?”

“I have classes to attend,” Niki replies, fumbling with his bag and grabbing his sketchpad before standing up. “Don’t you, too, at some point?”

“More or less,” James replies, standing as well. “My parents want a diploma but I’m not so sure I want one as well.”

Niki huffs again. “So you rather occupy your time in this café?”

“Not precisely, but it helps to pay the rent.”

Both smile at that and stand there, something like electricity pulling at eachother in the space between them. Niki opens his mouth to say something but the door swings open and a bunch of noisy students go in, breaking the moment.

“Wait!” James cuts in, ignoring the new costumers at the counter. “We should exchange numbers-in case you find yourself in need of a fine bone structure one of these days.”

Niki mirrors James’ not too subtle smile, blue eyes catching the light outside and glinting back at him.

“There’s no need.” Niki replies. James opens his mouth to protest but Niki continues. “If there comes a time I should need your  _fine bone structure,_ I’ll find you. Afternoon.”

And with a subtle wink Niki is gone, leaving James standing there until the chime of the counter bell brings him back to reality.

What an interesting distraction that was, James thinks, not at all fazed by his not-so-normal appreciation of Niki.

Just the motivation he needed to come to work next Wednesday.


	2. A Taste of Honey

“Oh, yeah, Niki, about that, I won’t be able to sit for you tomorrow...”

“What!?” Niki asked, the surprise raising his voice one octave. “Why!?”

Marlene, walking next to him, raised two perfect eyebrows, comically taken aback by his reaction.

“Remember the big audition I talked you about two weeks ago? Well, I got a call back from the agency this morning.”

It took Niki a second to digest the news. “I’m . . . glad” he finally said.

Marlene, who knew him with the depth of a former girlfriend turned best friend, caught the strain in his voice and let out a small laugh in return. “Wow, Niki, you really suck at lying.”

Niki closed his eyes, gathering his scrambled thoughts. “Look, you know I am happy for you, I really am, but you know I need a model for my final project and I was already counting on you”

“I know, I know!” Marlene said, real regret contorting her face, “and I’m really sorry, love, but you know this is a really great opportunity for me; I couldn’t say no.”

Niki sighed again.

He had met Marlene way back when he was a student in Austria. She was beautiful, with sun-kissed skin, big brown eyes, high cheekbones, and a smart quirk in her smile. She had told him her ambitions to be a famous model, he had shown her some of his best sketches, and both had found in each other a common desire to leave Vienna for better things beyond the horizon. The clear liking both had quickly developed for each other led them to think a romantic relationship was the obvious next step, but soon realised that they worked better as friends. They had cheered each other and had managed to get their tickets to London: Niki with an art scholarship, Marlene with a contract with a famous model agency.

Since then, Marlene had been Niki’s personal model. She was perfect to work with: she listened carefully to his instructions and managed to stay in a perfect pose for long periods of time. The work was done efficiently and he felt really lucky to not have to suffer the pain of working with someone inexperienced or unprofessional. The prospect of losing that for his final project obviously didn’t sit too well for him.

And yet, he wasn’t that much of a bastard as many of his classmates surely believed. This was important for Marlene. He would find a replacement and make it work.

“Of course,” He finally said.

Marlene looked at him and suddenly took him by the arm, dragging him along the street. “Cheer up, Niki! I will help you find someone worthy of your talents. But firsts, let’s grab a coffee and something to eat; my treat.”

Niki huffed, a small smile curving his lips slightly at Marlene’s peace offer. They went through the door, arm in arm, and the warm scent of coffee eased his shoulders a little.

As always, the small café was quiet and peaceful at this time of the day. Niki had always liked it this way: it was his own private oasis in the middle of the hectic noise of London and the stress that filled the corridors of the University at this time of the semester. Here he could sit back, relax, and draw at leisure; a nice cup of coffee at his side.

However, when his gaze finally landed on the front counter, his stomach gave an involuntary somersault. There he was: the tall, handsome and irritably charming barista. His deep blue eyes met his gaze in that instant and a big smile lit his face. Niki would have smiled in return if he hadn’t felt so damn flustered. He was no shy man; on the contrary, when someone caught his attention, he could talk with ease and get a date out of it most of the times. The thing was that there was something different with James . . . he hadn’t liked anyone as much as him nor as quickly in his entire life. That unsettled him.

“Hi. . .” James’ voice brought him brusquely back to reality. He blinked just in time to see a quick frown appear on James’ face and disappear just as quickly. He would have thought he had imagined it if it hadn’t been by the wavering of his voice as he went on talking. “What can I get you?”

It was only then that Niki remembered that he was still arm in arm with Marlene. As if it was on fire, Niki quickly shook Marlene’s arm off, putting both hands inside his trousers’ pockets for lack of a better place to be.

Marlene glanced at him from the corner of her eye, a dark eyebrow arched. “Um, we’ll have one soy latte and one cappuccino, please” She continued, turning her gaze towards James, who was not looking at him anymore.    

“Sure,” James replied, his gaze now fixed on the screen as he entered their order. “To drink here or to go?

 “To drink here, please.” Marlene answered, without asking Niki’s opinion.“We’ll go sit over there.” She said, pointing at a table behind them and dragging Niki back with her

Niki couldn’t help to wonder if something was off with James. He had been here enough times to be called a regular costumer and not once had those deep blue eyes failed to smile charmingly at him. Also, after their last talk he had expected _something_. . . certainly not this.

 “That’s him, right?” Marlene said, breaking his depressing train of thought. “The guy you draw so much you already used up a whole sketchpad?”

He quickly met Marlene’s eyes. “Why do you ask?” he asked cautiously as he quickly sized Marlene’s expression. There was an interested glint in her eye.

She smiled widely. “I’ll take that as a yes.” she replied, turning her gaze to James, who was preparing their drinks, his back to them. “I have to say you have good taste.” Her eyes lingered on James’ frame, enough to make Niki feel uneasy to the point where the in-joke fell flat between them. “He’s cute.”

“What are you on about?” He blurted out, no longer worried about what Marlene might see or not in his face.

“Just leave things to me, alright?” She replied in a low voice, turning her gaze at him as James walked toward their table. “I did tell you I would find you a new model.”

The smile that curled her red lips turned his stomach violently. “What? Marlene...”

“Here’s your coffee” James interrupted his plea. Niki spared a quick look to see if James had heard anything but the blond was focused on placing the drinks on the table, still not meeting his gaze.

“Thank you.” Marlene said; a charming smile on her pretty face. “You are James, right?”

James straightened at her voice. “Yes, that’s my name.”

“Niki, here, told me about you. Why don’t you sit with us for a bit?”

Marlene’s question seemed to finally catch James' attention. He looked a moment towards Marlene and then directed his eyes to Niki. 

He was softly biting his lower lip.

“Come on, Marlene;” Niki blurted out, dragging his gaze away from James’ charged stare. “he must be busy...”

Marlene brushed his lame excuse aside with a move of her hand. “I don’t see anyone waiting for a coffee, and it will be just for a bit; a quick chat.”

“Sure. I got nothing better to do.”

Niki turned in time to see a small smile pull at the corners of James’ lips just before he turned and grabbed a chair from somewhere in the café. Niki took the opportunity to glare at Marlene. She just smiled in reply, moving her index finger in an upwards motion, telling him with a signal to close his mouth.

He did, feeling the blood rise up to his cheeks.

“I’m Marlene, by the way.” She said amicably as James sat between them. He had also brought a mug with him, which he brought to his lips as he looked at Marlene. “Niki sometimes lacks manners, excuse him.”

“Yeah, I remember he was quite the charmer a week ago.” He said; a badly concealed smirk in his face.

Niki could only stare at both of them. His tongue had officially abandoned him.

Marlene’s laugh was light and elegant. “He told me you talked a bit. Quite a feat, if you ask me.” She took a sip of her coffee; her eyes leaving James’ face a second to look at Niki, who hadn’t touched his. “Niki is as talkative as a stone when he is busy drawing.”

This time James barked a laughed and turned his gaze to look at him while still addressing Marlene. “Well, since he was drawing me, he owed me a quick chat at least.”

“He showed the drawing to you?” Marlene asked before Niki could come up with something to reply. James’ eyes turned back to Marlene as he took another sip of his drink.

“Yes, it was quite good.” He simply said and, still, Niki's heart skipped a beat.

“It is.” Marlene agreed, filling the charged silence with her voice. “You certainly made his job easy. First time I saw it, I could have sworn you were an experienced model.”

Realisation downed on Niki like a bucket of ice-cold water. So that’s what Marlene was aiming at: making James his new model.

James nodded at Marlene’s compliment. “Well, thank you, but I was just standing there.” He said, motioning with his head to the front counter. “You, on the other hand, do look like a model.”

Marlene laughed again and Niki wanted immediately to stand up and leave. It was only his luck to see the guy he fancied fall for his best friend in front of him. With shaking hands, he brought his cup of coffee to his lips and grimaced at the cold drink.

Great.

“I am.” Marlene replied. She took a last sip of her coffee and put the mug down. She placed both forearms on the table and leaned towards James, suddenly all businesslike. “Actually, that’s the main reason I asked you to sit with us.”

James blinked at her, his brows going up and disappearing below his blond fringe.

“I had agreed to sit for Niki the next month for one of his final projects, but a great job offer came up for me and I won’t be able to help him as I said I would.” Marlene turned to lock eyes briefly with Niki, emphasizing the next word, “ _We_ were wondering if you could take my place as Niki’s model?”

James turned his gaze towards Niki, who reluctantly returned the gesture. Despite the disappointment, he still needed a bloody model for tomorrow and, fancy aside, James would be a nice replacement for Marlene.

Whatever James saw in his eyes must have convinced him because a big smile lit up his face, just like the ones Niki was used to see directed at him every time he arrived at the little café.

“Sure.” James said, turning to look at Marlene, who was smiling broadly too. “Sounds fun”

“Perfect!” Marlene said, her brown eyes glinting with victory. “Look, why don’t you exchange numbers and arrange the details while I go to the bathroom?” She stood up, the sound of the chair startling Niki from his meditations. “I won’t be long.” She said, mostly to him; her gaze loaded with meaning:

_Do your part._

Niki gulped as he saw Marlene’s retreating figure wade her way through the tables towards the restroom. The sound of James clearing his throat reminded him that he had to stop impersonating a plant and start acting like the functioning human being he was supposed to be.

“So, tell me, Niki,” James said, a little smile creasing the corners of his blue eyes. “What is this final project of yours about?”

Niki grabbed his mug with both hands to keep them from fidgeting too much. “Well, I have to make a series of studies of a model.” He said, finding some comfort in talking about his work; safe ground. “It will just be a handful of drawings in different poses with varying light and perspectives.” He took a sip of his cold coffee to give himself some time to look away from those deep blue eyes and gather his thoughts. “You’ll just have to pose as I say and stay put until I tell you so.”

James huffed amusedly, a cheeky glint in his eyes. “Bossy” he murmured behind his mug, low enough that Niki wasn’t certain if he was supposed to catch that.

Even so, a faint blush crept again up to Niki’s cheeks. He looked away, reminding himself it was useless to flirt back. “You don’t have to do it, though; if you don’t really want to.” He said quickly, his fingers playing with a teaspoon on his left. “I’m sure Marlene would still want to go out with you...”

James’ loud laugh cut him off mid-sentence. He turned to look at him, surprised, and James only muffled his laugh with his right fist, looking at him with watery eyes.

“She’s cute and all, but girls aren’t really my area of expertise, if you know what I mean.”

Niki could feel how his eyebrows went incredibly high on his forehead. James stared intently at him, a knowing smirk disappearing as he licked his lower lip; a slowly torment for Niki’s sanity.

Seconds passed until Niki remembered it was his turn to say something.

“Alright” he let out, lamely.

James laughed again, his eyes never leaving Niki.

“Anyway, I remember you saying that you would “find me” if you would ever require my services.” James said; a clear teasing tone in his voice. The too-well known surge of adrenaline brought Niki back from his stupor. “I’m really hurt that you didn’t”

“I am here, am I not?” Niki said, finally feeling himself again. It was not hard to return James’ wolfish smile with one of his own.

“You are.” James mumbled as he took a sip from his drink, never breaking the eye contact.

Just as both had exchanged numbers, James taking Niki’s phone from his hands to snap a shot of himself and add it to his contact information to later take a candid of an enthralled Niki, Marlene came back and declared both of them had to leave. She was right, though; with everything that had happened, he had completely forgotten he had to go back to the Uni.

Marlene took some notes out of her purse to pay for the coffee and, while James went back to the counter to give them their change, she took a glimpse of Niki and whistled.

“You really like him, don’t you?”

Niki turned to glare at Marlene, but it lacked conviction. His mind was still on the blond guy at the counter.

“ _Ich werde dich töten, Marlene*_ ” He replied in German, no real bite in his voice.

Marlene laughed out loud. “Just be sure to thank me with a really expensive dinner when you finally get to shag him.”

He was so distracted by the whole turn of events that he didn’t notice he had grabbed the wrong cup and took a last sip, only to find that it was not a cold soy latte but tea, sweetened with honey enough to make anyone who drank it diabetic instantly. Still, the unexpected taste brought a small smile to his face as he placed the mug carefully back on the table.

He wondered if James’ lips would have the same taste of honey as his tea.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! I know this update is out of the blue, but as I was re-reading this, inspiration arrived and a new chapter is up. XD  
> I think this will have at least two more chapters, because I really loved this AU, so stay tunned. 
> 
> *Ich werde dich töten, Marlene." = "I'm going to kill you, Marlene."  
> (Translation by google translate. Any mistakes come from there. Excuse my lack of knowledge in German)


	3. You

To be completely honest, James is feeling a bit disappointed right now.

After Niki had left the café a week ago, James had felt a gigantic surge of anticipation rise inside him. He thanked his lucky star that he had found a great excuse to see Niki again without him really having to seek it. 

He had thought about their meeting the following day again and again and, really, no one could blame him; the opportunity was Hollywood-perfect. His restless imagination provided a clear picture for him to revisit time and time again during that sleepless night: It would be him and Niki, all alone in some deserted and half-lit studio. They would have all the time to flirt and exchange quick and meaningful glances across the room. James would bask in the undivided attention of Niki’s bright blue eyes and take every opportunity to look as enticing and inviting as possible. As any true artist that respected himself would, Niki would eventually suggest the idea of a semi-naked pose and James would oblige. The sexual tension between them would increase, one thing would lead to another and, just like that, he would end up in Niki’s bed and he would, in turn, devote his sole attention to pleasure Niki; if he was really lucky, that wonderful session of sex would later evolve into more amazing things for the foreseeable future.

By the eve of their meeting, he had imagined every possible outcome, every possible path to follow; he had come up with thousands of scenarios and situations that would end up happily for them both and he had taken every precaution to be ready; however, his mind had failed to prepare him to deal in the case utter _nothing_ happened, which was, sadly, what happened the following day.

They had agreed to meet outside the café and Niki had led him through the maze of entrances and corridors until they reached a small studio, its walls full of mirrors. Niki had placed a stool in the middle of the room for him to sit, had offered some water, proceeded to open the tall windows to let the right light he wanted in, taken out his things, indicated James how he was to sit ―no pose James could work with to look inviting in any sense of the word― and fell completely silent. For two hours. They had had a break in the middle, but James used the time to go to the loo. When he got back to the room, Niki was already engrossed in his sketchpad and, when he finally noticed he was no longer alone in the tiny room, he simply told James to sit again and resumed his work.

"As quiet as a stone" The model had more or less said to James. Back then, he had thought it was just a quip to lighten the conversation; now he thinks it is quite the understatement.

After that depressing first meeting, other two had followed in the same vein. They had met, exchanged a few words on their way to the small room, James had sat, following Niki’s directions, and then suffered two hours of silent torture.

Now, in the middle of their third meeting, James has firmly decided that allowing things to continue this way is completely unacceptable. He needs to find some way to bring Niki back to the land of the living and get some conversation going. Not only is he on the brick of insanity, but he also wants to flirt and, perhaps, even convince Niki to go for some drinks with him after this session...

"You’re moving again."

Niki’s monotone voice breaks James’ train of thought. He turns his head to look at the other man, still sat with his eyes trained in some part of James’ torso. As in the previous sessions, James would have taken his chances and admired how incredibly sexy Niki looks when he is deep in concentration, but his limbs are stiff from holding a pose for too long and, really, this is as good an opening as any.

"Yes, well, if it is difficult to remain still as it is, imagine having to do so while being bored out of your guts!"

He knows he’s being a bit dramatic, but the hyperbole makes Niki close his eyes and recline back in his chair, putting the pencil down momentarily.

Small victory

"Let's talk." James continues, a peace offering as he abandons the pose he was in and stretches his numb limbs.

Niki sighs heavily, passing a hand through his brown curls and messing them out of place. "You were doing really well. Why do you want to talk now?"

"It would help” James answers, his lively tone in stark contrast with Niki’s tired voice. “to stay still”. He finishes the sentence, but Niki just blinks and fixes him with an incredulous stare.

Yet, the way his body is all but draped over the chair tells James Niki must be more tired than he lets on.

“Hey, let’s call it a day and go grab a coffee or something.”

“No,” Niki says; his voice firm as he picks up the pencil and straightens his back. “I have to finish this sketch today.”

“Come on, Niki. You’ve been working yourself non-stop and you look knackered. And let me tell you that is not a look that favours you in any way.” The joke falls flat between them as Niki glares at him. Seriously, why he liked this man in the first place is beyond him. Just then, Niki closes his eyes again and stretches his back, and James grows more and more convinced a drink and some fun would do marvels for Niki’s mood.  “I insist. We can continue this sketch later.”

Niki’s blue eyes meet his eyes and James holds his ground, returning the gaze with practised ease, an inviting smile on his lips. Niki’s eyes seem to waver and a cute blush starts coloring Niki’s pale cheeks when the door at his back opens with a bang and James jumps startled.

“Niki!― Oh, sorry. I didn’t see you were busy.” The voice behind James says. Niki, who suddenly is standing up, the chair overturned behind him, passes a hand through his hair and walks towards the door.

Once he catches his breath, James turns to see a bloke just inches taller than Niki; his hair is raven black and he is sporting a very bushy moustache that reminds him of the ones used back in the eighties. _Mr. Pornstache_ looks at him with curious eyes before stretching his hand towards Niki for a handshake.

“Don’t worry, Rega,” says Niki, the blush from before long gone from his face. “we were sort of taking a break.”

Mr. Pornstache looks taken aback by what Niki just said. “A break?”

“Oh, yes, sorry.” Niki says and turn his eyes to James, still sitting on the stool. “This is James, my . . . model.” he ends after a hesitation that doesn’t go unnoticed by neither man.

James is about to correct Niki and properly introduce himself but Mr. Pornstache turns to Niki and asks, “What about Marlene?” as if James weren’t in the bloody room with them.

 “She got a job in some ad campaign and she’s couldn’t take the time to help me.” Niki replies, completely oblivious of Mr. Pornstache's rude manners, and just shrugs at the mention of his . . . previous model?

Now that he thinks about it, James is not really sure what place Marlene has in Niki’s life. They had seemed pretty close when he first saw them in the café a week ago, arm in arm and comfortable in each other’s close company, but then Niki had thought James wanted to date her. James had been certain Niki was, in some degree, attracted to him; yet, the lack of interaction during the past week has put new doubts in James’ mind. In the end, Niki wouldn’t be the first straight man he fell for.

Still, he is determined to, at the very least, get a kiss from the Austrian; so, he pushes the doubts aside and stands up; head high, shoulders squared and an amicable smile on his face.

“I’m filing in for her, but we actually had met a couple of times before.” James says, catching the attention of both men with his voice. “I work in the café just around the corner and Niki here got an _interest_ in my features.”  

As he is talking, he can see from the corner of his eye how Niki’s bright blue eyes grow wide with shock as that cute blush appears on his face with renewed force. Mr. Pornstache, on the other hand, grins widely and ends up barking a laugh, clearly impressed by James’ boldness.

“That really doesn’t surprise me. Niki can be a creepy bugger sometimes.”

“Oi!”

When Mr. Pornstache stops laughing, he extends a hand towards James, who shakes it gladly, “I’m Clay Regazzoni, by the way. A friend of Niki’s” James nods; a proud smile on his lips. Both of them ignore Niki, who is fuming in the background. “Now, tell me, how in the name of all that is sacred were you convinced to model for _him_?”

“It was actually his friend, Marlene, who convinced me.” James replies, delighting himself in how every person he meets related to Niki shares his joy in teasing him.

“That makes sense.” Mr. Pornstache nods in approval. “That girl can convince anyone to do anything with those brown eyes―”

“What the hell do you want, Rega? We are busy.” Niki interrupts Mr. Pornstache. James wonders if the tense tone in Niki’s voice is because they are really busy, because of the teasing or because he feels uncomfortable by the way Mr. Pornstache had begun to talk about Marlene.

Mr. Pornstache just huffs at Niki’s annoyed expression. “Luca told me he saw you in the building and I thought it would be a good idea to invite you to go clubbing with the lads, but if you’re gonna be like that, I better leave―”

Niki opens his mouth; surely to refuse Mr. Pornstache’s invitation but James beats him to it. Again, life is putting everything for him in a silver tray and he will grab everything that it offers to him. He would be mad not to.

“What a coincidence!” He says, feigned surprise earning a glare from Niki. “I was just telling Niki the exact same thing!”

“Really?” Rega asks; interest overruling the annoyance that had been in his brown eyes.

“Yes. And I think we should definitely go.”

“No.” Niki says; his tone hard enough to make his accent more prominent. “I already told you, James, I need to finish this sketch today; we’re already delayed―”

“Niki, Niki, Niki,” he interrupts Niki and places a placating hand on his shoulder. That at least manages to shut the shorter man up. “You are tired. I am tired. Things will just be miserable for the both of us if we keep on like this. Moreover, I heard that being not in the right set of mind can lead a creative person to a serious block.”

Niki just glares at him, but, somehow, his glare lacks the conviction the previous ones had. James takes that as a sign that he is convincing Niki and keps talking. “Look, what about we go for a couple of drinks and we compensate the time other day. I will put my schedule to your disposition and go wherever you tell me to go.”

The room falls silent for some minutes. James can feel Mr. Pornstache looking at him but his attention is concentrated on Niki, who is clearly debating his options, his bright eyes beyond the tiny room.

A defeated sigh tells James he had won well before Niki nods; a shy small on his thin lips. James cannot help to beam in response. Bright blue eyes met dark blue and the shy smile grows into a proper grin on Niki’s face with the promise of something unsaid hanging between them.

“That’s settled, then.” Mr. Pornstache says, breaking the silent connection that had been established between Niki and James. “I’ll tell the others and we’ll meet you outside, okay?”

“Actually,” James says, still looking at Niki who, in turn, is still staring at him, now with a thoughtful expression. “I need to pick up some stuff from the café.” He turns to look at Mr. Pornstache again, just to not make things weird. “Why don’t we meet up there in, say, half an hour?”

“All right,” Mr. Pornstache replies and, with a final nod, goes out of the room, closing the door behind him.

James turns to look at Niki but he is already across the room, putting his things back in his black satchel. James waits patiently for Niki to put everything back to place before saying with unabashed mirth. ”Come on, you can leave your stuff safe in the café. I’ve got a locker and all.”

Niki nods, grateful, and James follows him out of the room and through the maze of corridors and stairs with a skip in his step. As the cool air of the evening musses his hair once they are back in the street, he can’t help but think this is going to be so much fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!  
> This chapter was going to include the club scene, but it was already looking incredibly long (to my standards, at least) so I decided to split the chapter in two. Anyway, I think this is the wiser choice because what I have reserved for the club scene deserves its own chapter ;)  
> Thank you for reading and don't hesitate to comment and leave kudos! They keep me motivated :)


End file.
